R2-KT started off as a real-world replica of an R2-series astromech droid with pink highlights. Albin Johnson, the founder of the 501st Legion, wanted to build a pink droid for his daughter Katie, who was dying from brain cancer (In fact, the "KT" suffix would appear to be a reference to her name). When it was realized that he did not have enough time, R2-KT was built by Jerry Greene, master droid builder, with the help of the R2 Builders Club. R2-KT makes appearances at children's hospitals, Star Wars Celebration and charity events in the southeastern United States. A Hasbro action figure of this droid was sold at San Diego Comic-Con 2007 and the character had a cameo in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars film.

R2-KT was originally going to appear in The Clone Wars episodes Secret Weapons and A Sunny Day in the Void. However, since those episodes featured R2-D2 as a main character, The Clone Wars crew wanted to avoid the audience confusion when addressing the droids. As a result, they created the astromech QT-KT instead as an homage.[2]